RI - Donna Anthony Fisher, 38, Cranston, 5 Dec 1986

In 1986, Donna Fisher, age 38, was the victim of an unsolved homicide in the City of Cranston, RI.

A neighbor found Donna unconscious in the upstairs bedroom of her home on Friday, December 5th, just 45 minutes after speaking with her on the phone. She was found on the floor under a quilt wearing only a bra and sweater. She was put on life support, but died three days later.

When Donna's husband reported that the telephone wire in the bedroom had been ripped from the wall, police became suspicious about her death. Originally thought to have died of natural causes, an autopsy revealed that Donna had been strangled.

The case is currently being actively re-investigated. If anyone has information about her death, or knowledge about her personal life leading up to her death, please contact Detective Jaime Cahill of the Cranston Police through the Facebook message or by telephone at (401) 477-5041.

It would be wonderful if the Websleuths community can help solve this case!

The placement of Donna under a quilt following the assault is indicative of remorse and, along with the lack of bruising and facial injuries, points toward the killer being known to the victim. This person who likely cared about her and perhaps did not intend to commit murder from the outset of the attack.

EDIT:
Because the police originally ruled this a death by natural causes, I'm assuming there was no obvious bruising or injury to the face. This is only an assumption on my part.

Due to her attire, I assume she was sexually assaulted so I guess they have DNA?

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It'd be nice if that could be confirmed, along with whether there was any evidence of forced entry. That would would help in narrowing down the suspect pool (i.e., stranger crime vs. non-stranger crime).

The covering of the body, lack of extraneous violence, and use of a weapon found at the scene suggest an offender that was not only disorganized but possibly immature as well. How thoroughly did police canvass the neighborhood? Were there any teenage/post-adolescent boys who lived nearby? Were the close friends of Donna's 18-year-old son interviewed? Did any of them go on to have criminal records?

No new facts have been released about Donna Fisher's murder on her 39th birthday. Cranston, Rhode Island police, nevertheless, have turned to social media to get the word out with the hope of finally solving this 29-year-old murder.

Robert Fisher has just turned 18 when his 38-year-old mother, Donna, was found dead inside their Cranston home in December of 1986.

"It never gets easier, you just learn how to cope with it," says Robert.

Cranston Police first thought she had died from natural causes, but an autopsy revealed she had been strangled.

"We are never going to understand why it happened, we're never going to understand all the details, but we just want to be able to say we know what happened," says Cranston Police Captain Vincent McAteer.

[...]

"29 years later it's still important, just as any other cold case, so if you think you know something, even if its small, please contact us," says McAteer.

Robert, who's an only child, says not a day goes by he doesn't think about his mother.

"Too many milestones have happened weddings, birthdays, holidays, and you always look into the crowd hoping she's looking back. It's hard sometimes," explains Robert, who says not knowing what happened is preventing him and his entire family from moving on.

"We just want to get her story back out there, even if someone had a conversation with her at one point, maybe it will trigger something and get us some kind of answers for us," he says.

Donna Fisher was strangled inside of her home back in 1986. She was killed on her 39th birthday and no one has been charged in her murder.

While investigators cant talk about the specifics of this case, they say they are tracking down every lead.

She was the greatest person in the world, just a joy to be around, said her son Robert, when Eyewitness News spoke with him three years ago.

That is when Cranston Police created a Facebook page, to call attention to the cold case. They are now hoping that page generates new leads.

Were turning to social media because social media is a phenomenal platform to get the police departments message out for anything, said Cranston Police Department Capt. Vincent McAteer. But in this case, we have the ability to reach an incredible amount of people.

Good morning Cranston...today is the 29th anniversary of the murder of Donna Fisher, an Edgewood resident that was tragically strangled by an unknown assailant on December 5, 1986, in her home. She passed three days later on December 8th. The Department is asking that anyone with any information about Donna Fisher's death or anyone who may have knowledge about her personal life leading up to her death to please contact Detective Jamie Cahill in the Special Investigations Unit at 401-942-2211, extension 5014.

Good morning Cranston...today is the 29th anniversary of the murder of Donna Fisher, an Edgewood resident that was tragically strangled by an unknown assailant on December 5, 1986, in her home. She passed three days later on December 8th. The Department is asking that anyone with any information about Donna Fisher's death or anyone who may have knowledge about her personal life leading up to her death to please contact Detective Jamie Cahill in the Special Investigations Unit at 401-942-2211, extension 5014.

I just wanted to point out that the police report states it was the Edgewood area, but according to Google Maps, it's actually right off Elmwood Avenue, in the Elmwood area. There's a big difference demographically, although now more so than back in the 80's. Elmwood has always had a rep for being a rough area. I agree about looking into the neighborhood residents more, although as far as teens in the neighborhood go, this happened on a Friday morning, so her son and friends should have been at school, her husband was at work. She mentioned she would have to out off her ironing to go shopping. Was it possible someone was there with her at the time of her friend's phone call, and that was what set the perp off to strangle her and rip out the phone lines. Was NE Telephone/ Nynex, now Verizon in the area at the time and were those workers looked into as being in the area performing service? Did the neighbor notice any work vans or vehicles in the area? During those year, the Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin still existed. Has the newspaper delivery person been questioned? Trying to think of anything that may have occurred on a Friday morning in that area back then. Hard to remember what else was going on around there in the '80's to think of who may have been in the area without causing much notice to the neighbors as being out of the ordinary. It's close to a main road that has a lot of industrial sites. It's also pretty close to a highway on ramp. I hope that son of her finds answers and some peace.